“Maturity is achieved when a person postpones immediate pleasures for long-term values.”

– Joshua L. Liebman

 

An ideal starting point for understanding your purpose is identifying values that guide your thoughts and actions. Values are principles that serve as motivation for every decision you make. Like a compass, values give direction in making judgments about what is important,  what is right, and what brings you happiness.

Making decisions that align with personal values can affect the outcome of virtually all major life decisions.  Choice of the city you where you live, friends with whom you spend time, or a partner to whom you commit long term are influenced by values. Many instances of dissatisfaction with these decisions can be traced to misalignment with one’s values.

Values Inventory

Career choice is another life decision that should be made with careful consideration of values. After all, you are choosing how to invest your physical, mental, and creative energy to your work. You want to feel that you are committing your professional efforts to an organization that places similar emphasis on principles that are important to you.

Evaluate these four categories of career values to examine how your principles match with career considerations:

1. Intrinsic values – Motivators to engage in activities because you find them interesting or enjoyable; examples include feelings of independence or making a difference.
2. Work content values – Specific tasks performed on the job that are enjoyable or play to your strengths; problem solving, serving others, and using creativity are among values in this category.
3. Work environment values – Working conditions that create a positive work setting; opportunities to learn, generous benefits, and fair compensation are examples.
4. Work relationship values – Characteristics of interactions that matter to you; open communication, teamwork, and diversity are examples of work relationship values that are weighed in determining the fit of a career or employer.

Notice that control over outcomes that relate to these four career values categories resides in different places. Intrinsic values are yours—no one else dictates what is important to you except you.

Work content values are inherent in a particular job and can connect with your intrinsic values. For example, a career as a copywriter responsible for creating content for web pages and social media might be appealing because of the variety in assignments or the challenge of meeting client deadlines.

Organization culture, the shared values, beliefs, and behavioral expectations among the organization’s members, influences work environment and work relationship values . Organization culture can mesh with or oppose an employee’s intrinsic and work content values. The copywriter who places importance of using her creativity to solve a client’s marketing needs (a work content value) might feel that value is not being fulfilled if her ideas are frequently rejected because “that’s not how we do things here.”

Strike a Values Match

Organization culture is a strong influence on work environment and work relationship values . It can be difficult for you to determine how well your values match with the company. However, there are ways you can look into an organization’s culture when researching prospective employers. Indicators of a company’s values include:

• Mission statement – Does it contain a statement about values? Also, many organizations go beyond a mission statement by identifying the organization’s values. How closely do the organization’s mission and values match with values important to you?
• Philanthropy – What social causes or nonprofit organizations does a company support? Corporate philanthropy is a statement of a company’s values and priorities.
• Physical environment – If you have an opportunity to visit an organization’s facilities or offices, are there visible cues about culture and values? One indicator is the layout of work spaces- Is it a maze of cubicles that isolates workers from one another, or is it a more open layout that promotes interaction and community among employees?
• Employee Impressions – To learn about an organization’s values, go to an information source that is embedded there: employees. Ask employees about their experiences through questions as “What attracted you this company?” and “What do you like most about working for this company?” Their stories might resonate with what you seek from an employer or raise concerns about whether the organization shares the same values as you.

Find a Fit

Values represent what is important to you. Your challenge is to find happiness in the mix of intrinsic, work content, work environment, and work relationship values. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates we spend 45% of our day on work and work-related activities. If you spend nearly one-half of a day on work, do it in an environment in which personal and organizational values mesh.

Note: This post is an updated version of a post first published July 1, 2015.